/ The Zwicky Transient Facility at Palomar Observatory in California. Caltech Optical Observatories Astronomers have found nearly 1 million asteroids in our Solar System, with the vast majority located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
It is far rarer to find asteroids with orbits closer to the Sun, and especially inside the orbit of Earth, due to Jupiter’s gravitational influence. There are only about 57 known asteroids with orbits entirely inside that of Earth’s. They are called Atira asteroids.
Many of these Atira asteroids have orbits that are substantially tilted away from the plane of the Solar System, suggesting past encounters with Mercury or Venus.
A rare find
Until now, scientists have theorized that Vatira asteroids might exist — those with orbits inside Venus — but had yet to find one. They would be difficult to observe because their orbits would bring them close to the Sun, leaving only a short window to find them in the dusk or dawn sky. And also because presumably they are quite rare due to the gravitational challenge of squeezing into a stable orbit so near the Sun.
AV2 orbits entirely within the orbit of Venus. Bryce Bolin / Caltech
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